Tropical Storm Joaquin formed Monday in the Atlantic Ocean, the National Hurricane Center said.

Forecasters said storm is located 400 miles northeast of the central Bahamas. Joaquin is the 10th named storm of the 2015 Atlantic hurricane season.

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"Satellite images indicate that the shower and thunderstorm activity associated with the depression has increased and become better organized during the past several hours," the NHC said on its website.

Officials said the center of Joaquin has been moving southwestward during the last several hours Monday, but it is expected to begin moving slowly westward overnight Tuesday. The NHC said the westward track will continue for a couple of days and meet with a trough, which should cause the storm to turn northward.

"In general, the guidance envelope has shifted southward for the first couple of days and then westward after that time," forecasters said.

The NHC said Joaquin has maximum sustained winds of 40 mph. It is moving southwest at 5 mph during the most recent update.